Your Thermostat Is Your Greatest Energy-Saving Weapon
Date: December 19, 2015
ARTICLES
YOUR THERMOSTAT IS YOUR GREATEST ENERGY-SAVING WEAPON
DEC 18, 2015
If you want to be an energy-saving knight, your thermostat is Excalibur. In fact, it might just be the single most important tool for someone who is serious about lowering their bill. At Donley Service Center, we’ve been in business for nearly four decades serving the HVAC service needs of the Valley.
We wanted to go into a little more detail about how to set your thermostat in a way that will save you money no matter how hot or cold it gets.
Don’t Just Set the Temperature and Leave it Alone
When it comes to saving money, you don’t need to have the most advanced digital programmable thermostat on the market, but it does tend to make the process a little easier. But even if you still have an old dial-type manual thermostat, you can still set it to save you some green.
How to Set Your Thermostat in Winter
Our mild Arizona winters offer a great opportunity to knock a few dollars off the energy bill. When you are at home, set the thermostat to about 68 degrees. Creeping into the 70s is only a little warmer, but could be a significantly more expensive when your APS bill comes around. When you are not at home or sleeping, drop the temperature down a few degrees.
Lowering your thermostat for eight hours a day during the winter can cut your energy costs by as much as 15%. You can set that temperature even lower and save more money, which is a good idea if you are going out of town.
How to Set Your Thermostat in the Summer
Your energy bill is bound to rise over the summer here in the Phoenix area, when air conditioning becomes crucial as temperatures soar past 100 degrees. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t still save some money.
When you’re home, set the thermostat to the warmest temperature you are comfortable with. 78 or 79 degrees will feel like a refrigerator when you walk in from the hot desert sun. Don’t hesitate to kick it up a few degrees when you are leaving home. Unlike during the winter, you probably don’t want to adjust the temperature on your thermostat before bed, because it’ll get too hot.
Advantages of a Programmable Thermostat
The biggest advantage of a programmable thermostat is that you don’t have to remember to manually change the temperature. When you cut out most of the potential for human error, you’re likely to save more money because you won’t have to remember to readjust your thermostat every day.
Digital thermostats are also likely to give you more accurate temperature readings than an older model. Some smart thermostats will even start remembering your daily habits and set themselves to maximize efficiency.